Download Egyptian Civilization

Egyptian Civilization
The Nile
Dynastic Egypt
Religion
Writing
The Nile
The basic element in the lengthy history of
Egyptian civilization is geography.
The Nile River rises from the lakes of central
Africa as the White Nile and from the mountains
of Ethiopia as the Blue Nile.
The White and Blue Nile meet at Khartoum and
flow together northward to the Nile delta, where
the 4000 mile course of this river spills into the
Mediterranean Sea
Farming and The Nile
Less than two inches of rain per year falls in the
delta and rain is relatively unknown in other
parts of Egypt. Most of the land is uninhabitable.
These geographical factors have determined the
character of Egyptian civilization.
– People could farm only along the banks of the Nile,
where arid sand meets the fertile soil.
– The river overflows its banks and floods the land with
fresh water and deposits a thick layer of rich alluvial
soil.
– The land would then yield two harvests before winter.
Proto Kingdoms of Egypt
Proto-Kingdoms of Upper Egypt
– Nagada, ca. 5500.
walled town with cemetaries.
capital of a major chiefdom.
– Hierakonpolis, ca. 5500
“City of the Falcon”
city-states with royal tombs.
– Maadi, ca. 5650.
outskirts of modern Cairo
major trading center.
– This, ca. 5500.
little is known.
Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt
ca. 5000 B.C.
– Rulers of Hierakonpolis conquered the area
– Gradual process of Egypt formed into political
and social units.
Intensification of Agriculture
– may have been a consequence of unification.
– irrigation became more complex
Nagada
Nagada was a city in pre-dynastic Upper Egypt,
representing a major culture of that time. Nagada
is usually broken up into three separate cultures:
Amratian (Nagada I, 4200 - 3700 BC), Gerzean A
(Nagada II, 3700 - 3250 BC), and Gerzean B
(Nagada III, 3250 - 3050 BC).
In 1894-1895, 28 kilometers northwest of Luxor,
Flinders Petrie unearthed three cemeteries at
Nagada that contained 2200 graves, the largest
mortuary in pre-dynastic Egypt.
– Along with the human remains, Petrie found mudbricks,
dog bones, and pottery. In later excavations, piles of
mudbrick from collapsed walls were found.
– This suggests that Nagada was the precursor to the burial
monuments constructed by later Egyptian civilizations.
Nagada con’d
During the Nagada II period, people buried several
objects with the dead, characteristic of that period.
– These items included copper, ivory, bone and shell jewelry, and
small model figurines of humans, oxen and boats, together with
model weapons and food. These item were believed to have
magical purposes and helped with ensure that the dead would
have a content afterlife.
The people who lived in Nagada were followers of the
god Seth, the god who killed Osiris, the god of the dead.
Nagada is considered to be the center for the followers
of Seth.
Hierakonpolis
Hierakonpolis is the most important archaeological site
for understanding the foundations of ancient Egyptian
society.
Well before the construction of the pyramids,
Hierakonpolis was one of the most important settlement
along the Nile - a vibrant, bustling city with many
features that would later come to typify Dynastic
Egyptian civilization.
Stretching for over 2 miles along the edge of
the Nile flood plain, it was a city of many neighborhoods
and quarters.
Hierakonpolis Mummies
Over the past five years the Hierakonpolis
Expedition has been excavating a cemetery
(HK43) of Predynastic Hierakonpolis’ working class
inhabitants.
Among the 260 burials so far uncovered we have
found some which revealed evidence for what may
be the very beginnings of artificial mummification.
This took the form of wrapping the head and hands
with pads of linen. Pottery found in association with
these burials indicates a date not later than
Nagada IIb (c. 3600BC)-a good 500 years before
the next evidence of mummification will be found in
a tomb of a king.
Mummies, con’d
Burial 71was found covered in matting and buried with seven
pots, one still with its lid in place. In one pot, placed behind her
head beneath the matting, there were round loaves of bread
almost 6000 years old.
Beneath the matting, her body was covered in a linen shroud,
but in addition, her neck and her hands were found bound in
linen. Examination of this resin-soaked linen has revealed that
this wrapping was carefully done. Only the finest linen was
against the skin, while outer wrappings became progressively
coarser.
Further examination of her remains has revealed what appears
to be one of her internal organs also wrapped in resin-soaked
linen before being returned to the chest cavity where it was
recovered. This suggests that at this time, evisceration,
perhaps in order to retard putrefaction, was being practiced,
making this lady truly one of Egypt's first mummies.
Aged 20-25 at the time of her death, she had the second richest
burial with regard to the number of grave goods so far found.
Burial 71
Maadi
In Lower Egypt, a predynastic site was uncovered
in the 1930's by Menghin and Amer. It was named
Maadi and had apparently been occupied from
3600 BC to 3000 BC. It is located near the
southern suburbs of Cairo, Egypt.
Maadi is a unique predynastic site. It is located on
what used to be the Wadi el-Tih, an historical route
to the copper mines of the Sinai Peninsula.
– There is also evidence of foreign house styles and
pottery, domesticated donkeys, intricate storage facilities
and an advanced copper industry.
– In 3600 BC, foreign trade goods started to reach Egypt
having a great effect on the communities in Lower Egypt.
The prosperity of the trade networks later lead to vast
settlements in Egypt such as Memphis and the settlement
at Cairo.
Maadi, con’d
The Maadi settlement covered about 45 acres of land.
Almost all of the houses were oval in shape and
constructed with post walls and mud-daub wicker
frame. Some of the homes were constructed
underground. These homes had entrances through a
slanting passage with steps that were faced in stone.
Unlike many of the grave sites in Egypt, the Maadi
culture had very simple burials. These types of burials
have distinguished the Lower societies from the Upper
societies in Egypt. generally, the grave sites are located
south of the settlement about 1 km. In the 1950s, 468
burials were discovered over an acre of land.
Dynasties
Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt and established
his capital at Memphis (Thebes) around 3000 B.C..
By the time of the Old Kingdom, the land had been
consolidated under the central power of a king, who was
also the "owner" of all Egypt.
Considered to be divine, he stood above the priests and
was the only individual who had direct contact with the
gods.
The economy was a royal monopoly and so there was
no word in Egyptian for "trader."
Under the king was a carefully graded hierarchy of
officials, ranging from the governors of provinces down
through local mayors and tax collectors.
The entire system was supported by the work of slaves,
peasants and artisans.
Chronology of Egypt
NAME
DYNASTY
YEARS
Archaic Period
1-2
3100-2700 B.C.
Old Kingdom
3-6
2700-2200 B.C.
Intermediate Period
7-10
2200-2050 B.C.
Middle Kingdom
11-12
2050-1800 B.C.
Intermediate Period
13-17
1800-1570 B.C.
New Kingdom
18-20
1570-1085 B.C.
Post-Empire
21-31
1085-332 B.C.
Old Kingdom
The Old Kingdom reached its highest stage of
development in the Fourth Dynasty.
The most tangible symbols of this period of greatness
are the three enormous pyramids built as the tombs of
kings at Giza between 2600 and 2500.
The largest, Khufu (called Cheops by the Greeks), was
originally 481 feet high and 756 feet long on each side.
Khufu was made up of 2.3 million stone blocks averaging
2.5 tons each.
– In the 5th century B.C. the Greek historian Herodotus tells us
that the pyramid took 100,000 men and twenty years to build.
– The pyramids are remarkable not only for their technical
engineering expertise, but also for what they tell us about royal
power at the time.
– They are evidence that Egyptian kings had enormous wealth as
well as the power to concentrate so much energy on a personal
project.
Middle Kingdom
During the period of the Middle Kingdom (2050-1800
B.C.) the power of the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom
waned as priests and nobles gained more independence
and influence.
The governors of the regions of Egypt (nomes) gained
hereditary claim to their offices and subsequently their
families acquired large estates.
About 2200 B.C. the Old Kingdom collapsed and gave
way to the decentralization of the First Intermediate
Period (2200-2050 B.C.).
Finally, the nomarchs of Thebes in Upper Egypt gained
control of the country and established the Middle
Kingdom.
12th-17th Dynasty
The rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty restored the power of
the pharaoh over the whole of Egypt although they could
not control the nomarchs.
They moved the capital back to Memphis and gave great
prominence to Amon, a god connected with the city of
Thebes. He became identified with Re, emerging as
Amon-Re.
The Middle Kingdom disintegrated in the Thirteenth
Dynasty with the resurgence of the power of the
nomarchs.
Around 1700 B.C. Egypt suffered an invasion by the
Hyksos who came from the east (perhaps Palestine or
Syria) and conquered the Nile Delta.
In 1575 B.C., a Thebian dynasty drove out the Hyksos
and reunited the kingdom.
New Kingdom
One of the results of these imperialistic ventures of the
pharaohs was the growth in power of the priests of Amon
and the threat it posed to the pharaoh.
Egyptians begin burying their Rulers in the Valley of the
Kings.
When young Amenhotep IV (1367-1350 B.C.) came to the
throne he was apparently determined to resist the
priesthood of Amon.
He moved his capital from Thebes (the center of Amon
worship) to a city three hundred miles to the north at a
place now called El Amarna.
Its god was Aton, the physical disk of the sun, and the new
city was called Akhenaton.
The pharaoh changed his name to Akhenaton ("it pleases
Aton"). The new god was different from any that had come
before him, for he was believed to be universal, not merely
Egyptian.
Tutankhamon
His chosen successor was put aside and replaced by
Tutankhamon (1347-1339 B.C.), the husband of one of
the daughters of Akhenaton and his wife, Nefertiti.
The new pharaoh restored the old religion and wiped out
as much as he could of the memory of the worship of
Aton. He restored Amon to the center of the Egyptian
pantheon, abandoned El Amarna, and returned the capital
to Thebes. His magnificent tomb remained intact until its
discovery in 1922.
The end of the El Amarna age restored power to the
priests of Amon and to the military officers. Horemhab, a
general, restored order and recovered much of the lost
empire. He referred to Akhenaton as "the criminal of
Akheton" and erased his name from the records.
Akhenaton's city and memory disappeared for over 3000
years to be rediscovered by accident about a century ago.
The Boy King
Ironically, our greatest royal treasure from ancient Egypt comes from a short
lived boy king. King Tutankhamun was not even in the same category of
achievement as the great Egyptian kings such as Khufu (builder of the
Great Pyramid), Amenhotep III (prolific builder of temples and statuary
throughout Egypt), or Ramesses II (prolific builder and usurper), in terms of
the length of his reign or the depth of his accomplishments. Indeed, it is his
little known status that contributed to the successful hiding of his tomb,
which was covered over by a later pharaoh who was clearing away an area
in which to cut his own tomb.
On November 26, 1922, Howard Carter made archaeological history by
unearthing the first Egyptian pharaonic tomb that still contained most of its
treasures. Still, even this tomb had been robbed in antiquity, although the
the robbery attempt was apparently thwarted before the thieves could make
away with most of the treasure.
This tomb also yielded something else that had never been found in modern
history - the pristine mummy of an Egyptian king, laying intact in his original
burial furniture.
Thus, Tut's tomb gives us a unique opportunity to explore the life of King Tut
and allows us to learn more about this essential period in New Kingdom
Egyptian history.
Carter outside Tut’s tomb
Tut’s sarcophagus
And funeral mask
Some Jewelry and Ornaments from
King Tut’s Tomb
Bracelets, Possibly
Anklets
Ivory and Stone
Bracelets
Openwork Gold Buckle
Pendant Depicting the
Solar Beetle Flanked by
Baboons
Gold Pendant with
Various Deities
Bracelet with Scarabs
and Netjer-ankh Holding
the Symbols of Infinity
Composite Udjat Eye
Pectoral
Vulture Pendant
Religion
The priests, an important body within the ruling
caste, were a social force working to modify the
king's supremacy.
Yielding to the demands of the priests of Re, a
sun god, kings began to call themselves "sons of
Re," adding his name as a suffix to their own.
Re was also worshipped in temples that were
sometimes larger than the pyramids of later
kings.
Gods
The creator of all things was either Re, Amun, Ptah,
Khnum or Aten, depending on which version of the myth
was currently in use.
The heavens were represented by Hathor, Bat, and
Horus. Osiris was an earth god as was Ptah. The annual
flooding of the Nile was Hapi.
Storms, evil and confusion were Seth. His counterpart
was Ma'at, who represented balance, justice and truth.
The moon was Thoth and Khonsu.
Re, the sun god, took on many forms, and transcended
most of the borders that contained the other gods. The
actual shape of the sun, the disk (or, aten), was deified
into another god, Aten.
God Horus (from Tut’s tomb)
God Ptah
(from Tut’s
Tomb)
The Afterlife
The Egyptians had a very clear idea of the afterlife. They
took great care to bury their dead according to
convention and supplied the grave with things that the
departed would need for a pleasant life after death.
The pharaoh and some nobles had their bodies
preserved in a process of mummification. Their tombs
were decorated with paintings, food was provided at
burial and after. Some tombs even included full sized
sailing vessels for the voyage to heaven and beyond.
At first, only pharaohs were thought to achieve eternal
life, however, nobles were eventually included, and
finally all Egyptians could hope for immortality.
Mummification
The actual process of embalming as practiced in ancient Egypt was
governed by definite religious ritual. A period of seventy days was
required for the preparation of the mummy, and each step in the
procedure was co-ordinated with relevant priestly ceremonies.
The embalmers' shop might be a fixed place, as in the case of those
connected with the larger temples. Often, however, it was a movable
tent - which could be set up near the home of the deceased.
Removal of those parts most subject to putrefaction was the initial
step in preparing a corpse for mummification. The embalmers
placed the body on a narrow, table-like stand and proceeded to their
task. The brain was removed through the nostrils by means of
various metal probes and hooks. Such a method necessarily
reduced the brain to a fragmentary state, and, as no remains of it
are associated with mummies, we may assume that it was
discarded. An incision was then made in the left flank of the body to
permit removal of the viscera, with the exception of the heart, which
was left in the body.
The liver, the lungs, the stomach, and the intestines were each
placed in a separate jar, the Canopic Jars , and consigned to the
protection of a particular divinity.
Canopic Jars
Mummification
Next came the preservation of the body itself. This was
accomplished in a manner somewhat similar to that of
drying fish.
– But instead of common salt, natron, a mixture of sodium carbonate
and sodium bicarbonate, with sodium chloride (common salt) and
sodium sulphate as impurities, was used. Natron occurs in Egypt in a
few places. Water containing natron in solution comes to the surface
and is evaporated, leaving the natron as surface deposits.
Small parcels of natron wrapped in linen were placed inside
the body. The outside was covered with loose natron or
packages of linen-wrapped natron. The dry atmosphere of
Egypt accelerated the desiccation process.
After the body moisture had been absorbed by the natron,
the packs were removed and the corpse was given a
sponge bath with water. The skin was anointed with
coniferous resins, and the body cavity was packed with
wads of linen soaked in the same material. The body was
then ready to be bound into that compact bundle we know
as a mummy.
Wrapped Mummy
And Sarcophagus
Tombs
Pyramids
Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Queens
Egypt
King Sneferu’s Bent Pyramid
The Pyramid of Menkaure, son of
Khafre.
Khufu, son of King Sneferu. The Great Pyramid is the only surviving
member of the Seven Wonders of the World (Height: 138.75 m (455.21 ft)
Length of Side: 230.37).
Valley of the Kings
Entry to the Valley of the Kings
http://www.touregypt.net/kingtomb.htm
The central area of the Valley of the Kings.
Tutankhamun's tomb is just left of the shelter
in the centre.
Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III
at Medinet Habu
http://www.touregypt.net/kingtomb.htm
The Queen
Nefertari, the favorite Queen of Ramses II,
is known from myriad of her
representations in the temple reliefs and
colossi of the great king.
The dedication to her, jointly with the
goddess Hathor, of the small rock temple
to the north of the great temple at Abu
Simbel, shows how great her influence
with Ramses II must have been.
Some Egyptologists think
she was probably a
daughter of King Seti 1,
and thus sister or half
sister of Ramses II. Other
Egyptologists, however,
think that her designation
as "Hereditary Princess"
might be in some way
connected with her being
representative of the
Thebes.
Egyptian Hieroglyphics
The ancient Egyptians used many materials and
had a much different writing system than their
neighbors of Mesopotamia.
Egyptian texts in hieroglyphs were inscribed in
wood and/or stone, and written on papyrus.
The word hieroglyph originates from the Greek
word heiros meaning sacred and glyphs
meaning sculpture. This was due to the fact that
they were almost exclusively inscribed on the
walls of sacred temples and public monuments.
Hieroglyphic Writing
Documented around 5100, may have been
traded in from Mesopotamia.
Hieroglyphics which are pictographs and
phonetics.
– written on papyrus, clay, buildings.
– Egypt developed its own script.
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone:
- A royal decree
promulgated by
Ptolemy V in 196 BCE,
written in hieroglyphic,
demotic and Greek.
- Found by the French
at Rosetta (el Rashid) in
the Delta in 1799.
- Was crucial for the
decipherment of
hieroglyphs by
Champollion in 1822.
Hieroglyphs in Tombs
Only fine quality stone such as limestone, granite, and
Egyptian alabaster was used to build these sacred
temples and pyramidal coffins.
Before decoration and inscription could begin, the walls
were prepared and polished smooth. If there were any
flaws in the stone they were filled with plaster. In portions
of the wall with exceptionally poor stone, a thick layer of
plaster would be applied.
A grid was usually laid on the stone by holding a string
dipped in paint at both ends and snapping it on the wall.
Supervised draftsman then made preliminary sketches
on the walls, using red paint. The final draft was
approved by the master draftsmen and drawn in black.
Papyrus
The writing medium most common to the ancient
Egyptians was papyrus.
This paper-like material was easy to use,
handle, transport, and make. The word papyrus
comes from the Greek word payros, which is
believed to have come from the ancient Egyptian
word papuro, which means "the royal".
This name is believed to have originated due to
the great monopoly the Egyptians had in the
manufacturing of papyrus.
Writing Development
Throughout their more than 3.000 year
long history, the Ancient Egyptians used
three kinds of writings to write religious
and secular texts:
– hieroglyphic,
– hieratic and,
– from the 25th Dynasty on, demotic.
Hieroglyphic
Nicely sculpted
hieroglyphic signs
on a piece of stone
at the Louvre
Museum.
Hieroglyphic Cursive
The Papyrus of Ani uses a special, more
cursive form of hieroglyphic writing.
Hieratic
The 'Satire of Professions', boasting the profession of
scribe, found on a wooden board in Deir el-Medina,
written in hieratic.
Demotic
26th Dynasty contract, written in
demotic.
Changes in Writing
It is important to note that neither writing would entirely
replace another, but it would merely restrict the other
writings to specific domains and be restricted itself to
other domains. Thus demotic would become the writing
of the administration from the 26th Dynasty on, but it did
not entirely replace hieratic as a handwriting, which was
still being used in religious texts.
Hieratic, on its part, did not replace hieroglyphic either.
From its beginnings, hieratic was hieroglyphic, but more
cursive and written by a speedier hand. As the two
writings evolved, practicality caused hieratic to be used
when a text need not be written in the slow but detailed
hieroglyphic signs and was used in administrative texts,
texts that were not to be inscribed on monuments or on
funerary objects